Aslam v. Superior Court
Annotate this CaseIn 2016, Aslam was charged with offering a false document (Penal Code 115(a)) and perjury (118(a)), both felonies, based on his submission of a Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) form. A jury convicted him of offering a false document but acquitted him of perjury. Aslam moved to vacate his section 115 conviction, arguing that the prosecution was required to charge him under Vehicle Code section 20, a more specific statute that makes it a misdemeanor to knowingly make a false statement in a document filed with the DMV. The court agreed, allowed the prosecution to add a Vehicle Code count to the information, then vacated the section 115 conviction. Aslam unsuccessfully moved to dismiss the Vehicle Code count, citing the five-year limitations period. The California Supreme Court denied his petition for review, “without prejudice to petitioner raising a claim" under its Kellett decision, which generally requires a single prosecution when “the prosecution is or should be aware of more than one offense in which the same act or course of conduct plays a significant part." The trial court rejected Aslam's motion to dismiss the Vehicle Code count based on Kellett and on double jeopardy. Aslam argued Section 20 is a lesser included offense of perjury, for which he had already been acquitted. The court of appeal denied relief, noting that Aslam waited until after trial to raise the Vehicle Code issue and that dismissal is not equivalent to acquittal.
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